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Month: April 2013

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By jtmanley

While students back home celebrated spring break the week of March 11, I had to wait until Semana Santa (Holy Week) to have an entire week of fun and leisure. For Semana Santa, my friends and I decided to go to Mendoza, Argentina for two days and Santiago de Chile for three. Although there were some bumps in the road when it came to transportation and lodging, we had an excellent time overall.

One of the first things that stood out to me was the sheer amount of people that left Argentina for vacation. The traffic leading to the Retiro bus station was a quilombo (i.e., a mess) any way you looked at it. And after slowly swimming through a sea of people to get to my stop, only a unannounced three-hour delay separated me from my journey to wine country! After arriving in Mendoza, things cooled off. The city is really small, but we enjoyed our time there. Sometimes, you need a break from major city life to keep you sane. ...continue reading "Two Ways to Semana Santa"

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By jtmanley

The week of April 1 was truly tragic. After leaving Santiago de Chile around 7 p.m. on April 1, I arrived less than two hours later to a Buenos Aires that was hit with heavy rain that would continue for two more days. During the hour-long cab ride from Ezeiza airport to my apartment I do not remember even five minutes without it.

The heavy rainstorms caused severe floods in the Province of Buenos Aires, specifically the area of La Plata. I think the most striking thing to everybody in Buenos Aires and the Province was the storm's death toll. Close to 60 people died due to the flooding, and over 1,000 people were evacuated in La Plata. In total, Buenos Aires received upwards of 7.5 inches of rain on April 1, 3.7 inches greater than the normal average for the entire month of April, making it a record-breaking weather event. ...continue reading "Le Déluge in Buenos Aires"

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By aubreygunnels

One of the greatest things about choosing Brussels as you study abroad destination, is you ability to travel. Brussels in centrally located to most of Europe and the airport is relatively easy to get to. While, I considered studying somewhere with a larger culture shock like South Africa and Hong Kong, they are much harder to travel out of.  Therefore, I have taken a handful of trips to get a better feel for other parts of Europe. In Brussels, there are many ways to get around:

Airports ...continue reading "Brussels: Transportation Hub"

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By rachels522

This morning I went to my first Quaker friends meeting. The Quakers first came to Monteverde in the 1950s as war protesters. Before my experience today I knew little to nothing about Quakers. From what I understand Quakers are a sect of Christianity. The meeting was one of the most eye opening cultural experiences that I have had.
The first part of the meeting involved signing hymns from a songbook. I thought I wouldn’t recognize any of the songs. However, one of the songs was “Dona Nobis Pacem,” a Latin song about peace that I recognized from my temple growing up. I felt that this song, which is about peace, embodied the Quaker message. The most amazing part of the ceremony was that there was no true leader. Members would suggest songs and then singing would commence. Most songs were broken into rounds. Despite, the lack of an organized leader the rounds were still in-sync and beautiful. ...continue reading "Quakers in Costa Rica?"

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By ahblackwell

I am currently riding the train back to Rabat from Marrakech, which is a five-hour process that will get us home at about two in the morning. Even though it’s late and I am more physically exhausted than I have been in a while, having a whole two seats on the train to stretch my legs and doze off is more than I could ask for. This weekend, a small and very wonderful group of students from our program decided to go to Marrakech in order to get in some good hiking and exploration in Ourika Valley, which is about an hour outside of the city. On Friday evening we boarded the train to Marrakech, and were very unpleasantly surprised by the crowd that we found on the inside. For the first half of the train ride, we stood in the hallway or sat on our backbags on the train floor because we weren’t able to find any seats. I had been looking forward to spending the time reading and writing postcards and was disappointed that we had to stand, but the packed cars seemed appropriate for a train going to Marrakech. We stood completely still, trying not to sweat in the humid and crowded aisles, while young Moroccans who were eager to practice their English talked to us about the places we had been within the country. Eventually, a group of young men returning home from the police academy in Rabat who had started talking and joking with us offered to give up their seats. At the end of the ride, they even helped us get our bags down from the overhead compartments and made sure we knew where we were going once we got off in Marrakech. I am continually amazed by the helpful nature of Moroccans (last week a boy and his sister got on a bus that they weren’t waiting for in order to ensure that we got to the destination we had asked them about... what?!). I have encountered so many incredibly friendly and helpful people who are willing to go far out of their way to ensure my safety and security. It is truly astounding. ...continue reading "Train Rides and Rock Climbing"

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By hkbardo

As you may have read in my earlier posts, I had initially intended on volunteering with the organization Meninas Mães; however, upon arrival these plans unraveled for UMPMRSseveral reasons. Primarily, the organization is located Zona Norte (the North Zone of Rio), in the favela Complexo do Alemão, which was more recently pacified, and thus is significantly more dangerous than Rio’s other large favelas like Rocinha and Vidigal. In the past few weeks violence has escalated as the different drug trafficking factions fight over territory. The organization’s director emailed me informing that the organization is currently closed due to the heightened threats, so I had to seek out a new organization in one of the safer favelas in Zona Sur (the South Zone). Fortunately, an American woman getting her Master’s degree at my university came into my Community Development class to present the work she did for her dissertation, focused on violence against women and female empowerment. I spoke to her (Courtney) afterward and she offered to introduce me to one of the organizations she worked very closely with while volunteering and doing research. ...continue reading "União de Mulheres Para o Melhoramento da Roupa-Suja"

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By Jessica Hoffner

Doctora AnaAs I mentioned in my previous blog, I have begun helping Doctora Ana to write a research paper for the Journal of Prosthetics and Orthotics. In this role, I help her to compile research and patient information, in addition to helping her translate the paper in English once it has been completed. As the computer system in the hospital is a bit antiquated, we spend a lot of time going through archives of her patients to put together a comprehensive spreadsheet beginning with surgeries in the 90s up until last year. Although this is laborious task, it is so enjoyable to sit with her in the archives room and share laughs and learn more about her life. She discussed with me the "machismo" that she faced in the hospital and how hard she had to work to gain respect in her field as a woman, in which she is now one of the most well respected in the country. ...continue reading "More than Numbers"

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My classroom experience at Sshrishti is always an adventure, to say the least. Here is just one of my many stories about this wonderfully unpredictable place:

SshrishtiA few weeks ago, I was asked to cover one of the teacher’s classes. This is something that I’ve become fairly used to, although I was originally not sure I would be comfortable teaching by myself. However, this time, when the bell marking the end of English class rung out, the teacher was still mysteriously missing. Luckily, my Hindi stills are now solid enough that I was able to ask another teacher, “Ma’am kehan hai?” “Stationary class,” she replied, and then turned to begin the next period with her own class. As you might imagine, this answer did not really clear anything up, and I returned to the classroom perhaps even more confused than when I’d left it. I had no choice but to follow the students to the computer lab next door for computer class, which was totally fine with me, as I was excited to show them some ESL games online. I had decided to come prepared with these in order to combat the students’ tendency to play Minesweeper every time I turned my back. However, when I went to pull up the first game, the page wouldn’t work. The students started to chuckle and explained: “No internet, ma’am.” A computer lab without internet? That I certainly wasn’t expecting, and so I let them explore Paint, Word, Excel, etc. I kept peeking at the door throughout the class, sure that the teacher would return any minute… ...continue reading "Sshrishti"

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By nfiszer

Suddenly it is April, and I can't wrap my mind around the fact that I have already been in Brazil for two months. My experience so far has been a whirlwind, and I have come to love Brazil so much that it is difficult to imagine ever having to leave. Alongside some amazing cultural experiences and beautiful sights that I have come across since my last update, I have also had great exposure to the topic of my research here in Brazil, the Brazilian unified health system, SUS. Through initial background research and interviews, I have been able to outline my plans for my large-scale research project that is taking place in May. Most recently, I got to spend time in and get to know workers at local community health posts that serve all Brazilian citizens and serve as the basis of Brazilian health care. ...continue reading "Observing and Interacting with Brazilian Health Care: Beginning my Research"

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By skatz14

My most recent volunteering experience was really different for me because I was the only volunteer in my classroom. It was the day before UCT’s spring break started, so the three other people who volunteer with me in my classroom could not attend, due to pre-break midterms and papers. Every classroom was really lacking in volunteers that day, so I learned what the schools must be like, since they tend to be so understaffed. Because I have around 15 students in my class, the beginning of the lesson was really difficult. SHAWCO aims to have a 3:1 ratio with students to teachers, so 15:1 seemed like the impossible. Eventually, I asked if one of the volunteers who had a much smaller 15-person 5th grade classroom could join me since it was too much, and she agreed. There was another volunteer in her class that day, so she was able to help me ...continue reading "Difficulties and Successes"

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